The present invention relates to magnetic-optic light deflectors and more specifically to the growing of magnetic garnet crystals by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) on another garnet substrates. The growth of the (LPE) crystals is achieved by preparing a super-saturated primary melt containing a bismuth compound solvent; immersing a prepared substrate in the primary melt for a predetermined growth period; and then removing the epitaxially grown crystal-substrate combination from the melt. Upon removal of the LPE crystal-substrate combination, it is necessary to remove the residue of the primary melt that clings to the LPE crystal. This residue removal previously has been done by spinning the crystal, but the wetting characteristics and viscosities of primary melts containing bismuth limit the efficiency of this technique.
The residue that clings to the LPE crystal consists essentially of the primary melt's solvent compounds, (i.e., Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3, PbO, Na.sub.2 O, V.sub.2 O.sub.5 or B.sub.2 O.sub.3) which upon cooling causes crystals of non-uniform magneto-optic properties, non-uniform thicknesses, cracking or fracturing of the crystal or otherwise results in defective and unusable crystals.